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Bruce Givner’s Answers

Do I have to report a regular deferred UK university pension as a trust on 3520-A?

I am receiving no payments. All I get is an annual statement in April telling me what I could be paid in 20 years time. If I have to report this, not sure what numbers to put in a 3520-A form or when to file. The first "pension" tax year I will be...

Bruce’s Answer

July 11, 2015 1:52am

You are not the U.S. owner of a foreign trust. Read the instructions to the form. If they are unclear, which I can easily see, it is because the concept of a U.S. owner of a foreign trust is a complex one. That refers to someone setting up a trust which is revocable, or someone else setting up the trust and giving you certain powers over it.

Friend & I are spending tens of thousands of dollars on animal campaign. How can we get tax benefit without creating a nonprofit

We have a volunteer group that campaigns against animal cruelty and we spend lots of our own money for our campaign such as postage, give away items, t-shirts, newsletter fees, leaflets, donating to activists overseas,...etc. We spent tens of tho...

Bruce’s Answer

July 11, 2015 1:49am

You cannot get a tax benefit without creating a non-profit the way you are currently behaving. You can contribute money to an existing non-profit, but it may not let you act as you are currently doing.

Can I abandon an LLC that's FTB suspended?

I have an LLC that was established in 2009. All tax returns were filed with income flowing into Sch C as sole proprietor. I never received notification to pay the annual $800 fee. As such, all years were delinquent. Recently, the FTB sent a suspen...

Bruce’s Answer

July 8, 2015 5:47pm

If you did not take any money out of the LLC while it owed the tax, then you do not have any personal liability.

Our tax preparer submitted 2012, 2013, & 2014 tax returns w/false information. She stated we had over $5K in business expenses and huge losses to a home business that is non existent. She also stated we had property that we did not. We only pro...

Bruce’s Answer

July 8, 2015 5:13pm

As the other fine lawyers have indicated, you sign your return under penalty of perjury. So, as between you and the IRS, you are responsible for the return. However, if your return preparer ignored the documents you provided and made up deductions, you still may have a cause of action. The question will be: what are your damages? If the preparer prepares the corrected returns for you and does not charge you form them, then you may not have any damages. Interest is not damage. Only penalties would be damages.

My wages are being garnished and I will recieve an inheritace soon can the IRS take the inheritace

Bruce’s Answer

I sold personal stock, through my online brokerage account, while living in CA, do I have to pay CA franchise tax?

I was living in Ohio, and partime in CA, when I sold some personal common stock, filed my taxes in Ohio in 2011, 12, then in CA for 13, 14. I only made 2300.00 dollars in 2013 from stock sales, no money in 2014 Franchise. CA franchise board sta...

Bruce’s Answer

July 6, 2015 9:09pm

Messrs. Egli and Halverson have given you superb advice. You should pick up the phone and buy time from one of them. If you were a California resident when you sold the stock, then you own tax to California.

Can my husband prevent me from using our joint tax return to refinance a rental that is in my name?

He sent this email to my loan broker:
This is to notify the receipts of this email that the use of any of my financial, tax returns or any financial papers that bears my name, xxx , is hereby strictly forbidden for obtaining any loans or refina...

Bruce’s Answer

July 6, 2015 9:06pm

You are entitled to supply a copy of your joint return to anyone you wish. The issue is whether the lender is entitled to rely on your husband's income for purposes of making the loan. Your husband obviously does not want to be responsible for the loan, which is the reason for his e-mail to the loan broker. So if you need his income to qualify for the loan, you are probably going to have a problem. This is something for the two of you to work out.